<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Chopper's Gossip Discovery by Pokkit</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30129351">Chopper's Gossip Discovery</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokkit/pseuds/Pokkit'>Pokkit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: Rebels</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chopper is sneaky, KALLUZEB: FACPOV, Love Confessions, M/M, Mentioned Kanera, Organics Are Weird, Post-Episode: s04e15-16 Family Reunion – and Farewell, but sort of in the middle of the episode too?, hoping i got droid thinking right, post action but pre epilogue, wtf is wrong with Fulcrum</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 11:48:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30129351</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pokkit/pseuds/Pokkit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Organics are weird. That's just Chopper's reality. Today, there's one acting even weirder.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alexsandr Kallus/Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>77</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kalluzeb: From a Certain Point of View ~ challenge</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Chopper's Gossip Discovery</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for sempaiko's Kalluzeb FACPOV challenge. Had the idea for a while, but wrote most of it today in a burst of inspiration. Really had fun playing with how I thought a droid might process names and personalities and understanding of organics' emotions.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The organic units on the Ghost were always strange, each in their own ways. Most of those oddities were identifiable, clear, and predictable. Like how Spectre 1 “Kanan” would go to his room and power down as though he were a droid, but not sleep - just lower his energy level, even though humans did not have a low-power mode. Like how Spectre 5 “Sabine” would put pictures on everything, but not always to identify the things. And how Spectre 4 “Zeb” was just. So… Aggressive. So yes, C1-10P “Chopper” could deal with the day-to-day strangeness of organics. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But Fulcrum “Kallus” was acting stranger than normal.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was true that once he was re-programmed from ISB-021 “Kallus” to Fulcrum “Kallus,” the man’s behavior had changed. He was less desperately aggressive around the Spectres, more reserved. Less like an assassin droid and more like a protocol droid. Of course this was because he was on their side now, but even so, it was surprising that this being was capable of such completely different conduct that he seemed like an entirely different entity.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Today, though, something was off. He was fidgety, as though there was a short in one of his circuits. When he walked onto the ship, he had asked C1-10P “Chopper” where Zeb was, which in itself was not unusual, but the way he hesitated a microsecond and looked around the cargo bay before saying Zeb’s name was odd. A quick bio-scan revealed a slightly elevated pulse and a minor tremor in his hands. When told that Spectre 4 “Zeb” was in his cabin, Fulcrum “Kallus” took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and said to him “Right. Thank you, Chopper.” As he strode off towards the crew cabins, the droid tried to calculate what could be the reason for this atypical behavior. Unable to reach a conclusion, he did what seemed like the most appropriate thing to do in this type of circumstance. He followed after to eavesdrop.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>From around the corner, he heard a cabin door hiss open, and Spectre 4 “Zeb”s voice saying “Kal! Didn’t expect to see you today. What’s up?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I was hoping to speak with you about something… important,” came the reply, and then after a tick, the door hissed shut again. C1-10P “Chopper” took his cue to roll quietly to the door and raise the sensitivity of his audio sensors.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“... about you quite a bit, since that ‘drastic’ stunt you pulled in the reactor chamber in the Imperial Complex,” he heard Fulcrum “Kallus” say on the other side of the door. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, yeah, well, I had to do somethin’.” That was the gruff voice of Spectre 4 “Zeb” of course. But it sounded somehow softer, more gentle. “Sorry I scared ya.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s… it’s alright,” but Fulcrum “Kallus”s voice had a tone that didn’t sound alright. “It just about stopped my heart, but it did get me to think about something I had been trying to ignore. After that, I couldn’t ignore it anymore, and I’ve finally determined that I must talk to you about it.” C1-10P “Chopper” stifled a grumble. Enough beating around the bush! What was this about? This was a man who had faced down certain death at the hands of this very crew multiple times and was quite frankly lucky that C1-10P “Chopper” never had a good shot at him. Then he’d spent a year spying from within the Empire, always in danger of being caught and executed, had been tortured by Thrawn, and managed to escape with his life. What could be so dangerous and terrifying that it has Fulcrum “Kallus” shaking? So sensitive that the usually straightforward man was talking around it, stalling like this?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I… have very… </span>
  <em>
    <span>strong</span>
  </em>
  <span> feelings for you, Zeb.” A pause. “I realized in that moment, when you leapt off of the walkway, that I couldn’t fathom losing you, living a life without you in it. And over the past few weeks, I have thought quite a lot about what a life </span>
  <em>
    <span>with</span>
  </em>
  <span> you would look like. About what you really mean to me. I realize this might not be welcome, coming from me. There’s a lot in the past that cannot be undone. But I… I have not felt this way about someone before, and honestly did not expect to ever find this feeling. I… love you, Zeb.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>WHAT?!?!?!?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>C1-10P “Chopper” reeled back from the door, letting out a brief squeal before remembering he was trying to be sneaky. THAT’s what had Fulcrum “Kallus” so nervous? C1-10P “Chopper” recalled memories of a similar conversation between Spectre 1 “Kanan” and Master Hera, years before. Spectre 1 “Kanan”s bio-signals had been normal then, at least until C1-10P “Chopper” had threatened him. But perhaps this was different. Organics varied greatly, and perhaps the Force had kept Spectre 1 “Kanan” in a calmer state. Or perhaps Fulcrum “Kallus”s fortitude fell short of handling emotions. In any case, this “love” business between organics was always a bit unpredictable to C1-10P “Chopper” and always interesting to watch. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Spectre 4 “Zeb”s voice pulled C1-10P “Chopper” out of his memory banks. “Kal, you… d’you really mean that?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I assure you, I’m being entirely sincere. And I understand if you do not ret-- Zeb? Wha--? What are you dOIng?” At the alarmed squeak in Fulcrum “Kallus”s voice, C1-10P “Chopper” almost opened the door to rescue him. Almost. This was too good to ruin by being caught.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Heh, sorry, Kal. That’s how we show affection. On Lasan. We share scents with each other. I just… I didn’t think you’d ever feel like I do. You’re braver’n me, saying it out loud like that.” Well, C1-10P “Chopper” could have told Spectre 4 “Zeb” that Fulcrum “Kallus” was the braver of the two, but he wouldn’t have listened. Fulcrum “Kallus” had many qualities superior to Spectre 4 “Zeb”s but nobody ever wanted to hear that when he tried to tell them. (Incidentally, Chopper had only tried to tell Zeb.)</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He was trying to listen to Fulcrum “Kallus” stumble through an offer of human-style affection when C1-10P “Chopper” heart Master Hera walking up the ship’s ramp. He quickly calculated the odds of being caught eavesdropping and how much he wanted to see her vs. how much he wanted to hear more of this conversation, and decided it would be better to go and meet her before she reached the crew quarters corridor. And of course he would tell her what was happening on her ship. Master Hera needed to know these things. And then once she was informed, he would be free to go spread the gossip to AP-5. And if word got around to the whole base because of AP-5, well, that wouldn’t be C1-10P “Chopper”s fault. Organics were just too entertaining for their own good. Weirdos.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm not sure I like my ending, might be a little abrupt, but once I thought of the idea of a difficult conversation, that's just what had to happen in this fic. It's probably because I'm having a lot of difficult conversations in my relationship IRL, but I definitely wanted this one to be a positive one, even though it was scary to start :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>